Many years ago my Mom and I and my brother and my brother’s friend and his mother who happened to be dark skinned were having lunch at a restaurant in Suffern NY. I used to carry a set of business cards in my wallet- I was about 14 or 15 at the time. They read in fancy type: “You are cordially invited to go fuck yourself.”

There was a couple sitting not too far from us who kept whispering in hushes and giggling and staring at us. I really didn’t understand what was going on but my mother did. She asked to see my wallet which i handed to her. She took the wallet, removed one of my cards and got up and walked over to the table the couple was sitting at- presented it to them and turned around and walked back and sat down and we proceeded with our meal.

Mom- for all the things I haven’t done right in my life, you gave me my moral center and taught me right and wrong and how to be a good- if not sometimes loud, human being. You taught me to never compromise your beliefs and to always stand up for what’s right, especially for those that cant or even won’t. And to have a laugh while doing it.